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HSK 1

你

you (singular)

pronounneutral
你
nǐ3rd tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
nǐ
Part of speech
pronoun
Level
HSK 1
Strokes
7
Register
neutral

Stroke order for 你

你 is written with 7 strokes. The animation replays automatically.

What does 你 mean?

你 (nǐ) is the second-person singular pronoun 'you' in Mandarin — the everyday word used between equals, friends, classmates, and family.

Two things differ from English: first, Chinese distinguishes politeness through 您 (nín, polite 'you'), used with elders, customers, strangers in formal settings, or anyone the speaker wants to show respect to — English has no equivalent; second, 你 itself doesn't change form for subject or object (no 'you/your' alternation) — to make it possessive, add 的: 你的 ('your'). The plural is 你们 (nǐmen, 'you all').

The character 你 has the 'person' radical 亻on the left, marking it as relating to people. Note: when 你好 is said, the tone of 你 changes from third to second tone in tone-sandhi, but written pinyin keeps nǐ.

Note: 你 is the everyday singular 'you.' For respect (elders, customers, strangers in formal settings), use the polite form 您 (nín). For plural 'you,' add 们 → 你们 (nǐmen).

Memory hook: 你 has the 亻 (person) radical — pronouns for people get this radical: 你 'you,' 他 'he,' 她 'she.'

Example sentences

你叫什么名字？

Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

What's your name?

spoken

你是学生吗？

Nǐ shì xuésheng ma?

Are you a student?

neutral

我爱你。

Wǒ ài nǐ.

I love you.

spoken

这是你的书。

Zhè shì nǐ de shū.

This is your book.

neutral

Common phrases with 你

你好nǐ hǎohello
你们nǐmenyou (plural)
你的nǐ deyour; yours
谢谢你xièxie nǐthank you
你是…nǐ shì…you are…

Synonyms

您nín

Polite 'you.' Use 您 with elders, customers, strangers, teachers, or anyone you want to address respectfully. 你 between equals; 您 when status or distance matters. In writing, 您 also softens emails.

Don't confuse 你 with

妳nǐ

妳 is a Taiwan / traditional variant used to specifically mark 'you' as female (女 radical). In mainland simplified Chinese, 你 covers both genders.

您nín

您 looks similar (你 with 心 underneath, 'heart') and means polite 'you.' Don't substitute 您 in casual contexts — it sounds stiff between friends.

他tā

他 means 'he.' Same 亻 radical, different right side — 你 has 尔, 他 has 也. Both are basic pronouns at HSK 1.

FAQ

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